Frame structure for lights or ventilators in doors



M. A. AVERY July 12, 1960 FRAME STRUCTURE FOR LIGHTS OR VENTILATORS IN DOORS Filed Jan. 22, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 f I l I l l l I 7 I INVENTOR.

I 35 22 29 28 Morris fl. flvery ATTORNEY July 12, 1960 M. A. AVERY I 2,944,305

FRAME STRUCTURE FOR-LIGHTS OR VENTILATORS IN DOORS Filed Jan. 22, 195? 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 6 i F' .7.

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ATTORNEY i Pate July '12, 1960 FRAME STRUCTURE Formats on AT S N O S Morris Ame y; 1151 w. si.,gn iint, Mich. Filed an. 22, iasns en lsoi 635,556

1 Claim; (cutest) The present invention relates to lights, louvered vents, and other types of shields at openings in doors, and it consists in the combinations, constructions, and arrangement of parts herein described and claimed.

Door lights constructed according to the customary practice and upon which the present invention is an improvement, usually consist of a pair of symmetrical frame sections assembled'in an opening in a door from opposite sides of the door and having marginal flanges thereon abutting sides of the door upon securement of the sec-, tions together with screws or the like, there beinga pane of glass or other type of shield -interposed betweenthe, frame sections and glazed at overlapping edge portions of the glass and the frame sections. -1

- An industrygentirely separate from that of doorlm anu t facture, has. developed for the manufacture of door, lights; and the separate items are purchased iby, a retailer, et;

'door;

Figure 6 is a vertical section taken on line 6-6 of Figure 5, showing the door light in elevation;

Figure 7 is an enlarged vertical section taken on line 7-7 of Figure 5 and with portions broken away;

Figure 8 is a side elevation of the device showing the construction slightly modified for a louvered vent on doors and having thecentral portion thereof broken away;

Figure 9 is a vertical section taken on line 9-9 of I Figure 8; and

cetera,'and assembled accordingto the size, numbe r, and;

positional arrangement, of lights desired bya buyer, thus reducing the amount ofstock necessary to be carried and still being capable'of covering thev same range of styles and designs. In practice, it-has'been found ,that doors manufactured either by-the same or a different manufaeturer' and supposed to bethe same, vary slightly in their thicknesses, and in order to compensate for such v-varia-. tions, different amounts of glazing material are used between the glass pane and frame sections ofdiiferent doors thus requiring a glazing'operationforeach lightby the retailer, et cetera, for proper installation of the lights in 1 .doors.- 3;

It is therefore the primary object of-this invention to provide an improvedlight orlouvered vent for installation to doors'which has a pane of glassor louvers'fixed' in the frame, thereby dispensingwith a glazing operation during installation of-the light or louvered vent' in a door-v "1::

Another object of the invention f'l S to provide, in a device of. the character set forth, a novel construction 7, for afiixing the pane of glass or. louvers in place-on the frame. a

-A further'object ofxthe invention-is to; provide, in-

device as set forth above, a novel frame construction for easy and efficient attachment of lights-o thatvary slightly in their thicknessesr;

rvents to doors.

Figure 10 is a horizontal cross section taken on line 10-40 of Figure 8.

Referring now more specifically to the accompanying drawings wherein like numerals designate similar partsthroughoutthe various views, 'attentio n is directed first to Figures lthrough 4 which illustrate'a flush door 15 of hollow core construction having a pair of veneer side panels 16: supported in spaced relation ot one'another at v their'marginal portions by rails and stiles (not shown) and at their intermediate portions by a plurality of spacer" struts 17. "Aligned openings 18 are cut through' the side panels '16, and any portion of a strut or struts 17 within the area of the openings are removed for insertion of a'door light, indicated generally bythe numeral 19.

- Theopenings 18 are made of a'size'and shape slightly;

larger than outside measurements of a main frame 120 on the light 19, which in the present instance isshown as being of rectangular shape. 'l i "The mainframe 20 is composed of horizontal upper.

' and lower rails 21: and '22 and a pair of vertical side rails;

23 and 24 mitered-at each end, as at '25, and secured, to-. gether at mitered corners by staples 26', or the like. All'; rails are of the same general'crosssection, and each has" one longitudinally extending groove 27 in its inner face and another longitudinally extending groove. 28 in one" A still further object of the invention is tofprovide, in n a device as outlined above, a novel louver construction forming a part of the invention,

It is also anob'ect of the invention toprovide a device substantial in construction, economical-to manufacture,

and thoroughly eflicient and'practical in usel w These, togethenwithvariousfauxiliar eatures and-ob jects of the invention which will later become apparent as the following description. proceeds, are attained bythe present invention, preferred embodiments of which have panying drawings whereinr i of its side faces and both grooves extending to its mitered ends '25. Also provided 'on 'each rail at its side face opposite to that having the groove 28,and flush with said side face is an outwardly directed flange 29 so as to pro-' 1 vide a peripheral flange on'the main frame 20 thatcona tacts by overlapping an outer surface portion of one'sidepanel 16 of the door adjacent the'opening 18 therein. As fshown in Figures 3 and 4, each rail is of a Width'that' the. distance between the door-contacting surface of its flange 29 and its grooved side face is slightly less than the thickness of the door .15 irrespective'of variations in door thicknesses. i. Q

' An auxiliary frame 30 composed of separate strips 31 eachbeing' substantiall} L-shapedhin cross section: and

mitered at 0 osite' ends, as at32, is arran'edori tlii of the above-indicated character which s slmple and PP g main frame 20. 'Each'strip 31has one "of its flange-like" portions33 extending into a groove'28 of a rail andilias;

its other: right-angled flange-like portion 34 contacting and-overlapping an outer surface portion of the other side" panel 16rof the door; Small finishingnails 35 or'like? Figure 1 is a side view ofa doorj illustrating apairqof 5;

door lights thereon;

fastener elements driven through the flange-like legs 34C of the strips 31 and into the rails 21,- 7.2,23, and 2468 cure =the strips 31 comprisingtheauxiliaryframe 30 to? the main' frame'20; Theopposite sidesof the flange-like; portions :33 :s and grooves- 28,, which" form tongue-amid groove joints, are closely fitted, and the flange-like legs 33 tached.. A pane of double-strength glass or like shield 37 is assembled through the slot 36 and into a position in the frame 20 with its marginal portions loosely received in the grooves 27 of all rails and where said glass is affixed to said frame with aluminum liquid solder,by leading, or other glazing methods, as at 38 '(Figure 3), prior to assembling the frame 201 in the opening 18 of the door.

In Figures 5, 6, and 7, there is shown a two-light and single frame construction having a main frame 20 com.- posed of horizontal upper and lower rails 21 and 22 and vertical side rails 23 and 24* mitered and secured together at their ends. A mullion 40 parallel with the upper and lower horizontal rails and attached at its opposite ends to the vertical side rails substantially midway of their lengths divides the main frame 28 into halves. In the upper and lower faces of the mullion 40, there are provided longitudinally extending grooves 41,

which together with grooves 27 in theinner faces ofthe rails 21, 22, 23, and 24 receive the marginal portions of an upper and a lower glass 37* and 37". .With the exception of separate slots 36; and 36* provided in either of the vertical'rails 23 and 24 for assembling the panes of glass 37 and 37*, respectively, into the main frame 28, all rails of the frame 20 and strips 31 of an auxiliary frame 30 are of the same construction as that described relative to the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figures 1 through 4. a

Referring now to Figures 8, 9, and wherein there is shown a form of invention having a shield composed of a plurality of louvers 42 supported in a main frame which together with an auxiliary frame supports the shield in a door. The rails of the main frame 20 are of the same general construction as those previously described and differ therefrom only in that the width of the main frame has been omitted.

The slot is of a lengthf While there are herein shown and described door lights and ventilators of rectangular shape, it is to be understood that said lights and ventilators may be made square, triangular, hexagonal, or any other shape found practical if so desired.

In view of the above description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying-drawings, it is believed that a clear understanding of the construction, operation, and

'- advantages of the improved door light and ventilator will be quite apparent to thoseskilled in this art, a more detailed description is accordingly deemed unnecessary.

It is to be understood, however,'that even though there are herein shown and described preferred embodiments V of the invention, various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and full intendment of the invention.

What is claimed is: V

A device of the character described for attachment at an opening extending entirely through a door to opposite sides thereof, said device comprising a main frame composed of a plurality of rails of the same general cross section mitered and joined together at their ends and of a size and shape that is closely received in the door opening, each of said rails being of one piece construction and having an outwardly directed flange thereon which together provide a peripheral flange for said frame that overlaps an outer surface portion of one side of the door, each of said rails having one longitudinally extending groove in its inner face, a shield bounded by said main frame and having marginal portions thereof received in said grooves, said frame and shield being assembled prior to insertion of said frame intothe opening inthe door, each of said rails also having another longitudinally extending groove in'its side face opposite to that having the flange thereon, said grooves in the side faces of the rails being open to one another at their ends and together form a continuous channel in the side of the main frame, said grooved side face of said main H frame being parallel with and slightly offset inwardly The louvers are of an inverted V-shape in cross sec-- 7 tion and are stacked one above another with their opposite ends contained within the grooves 27 of the vertical side rails. Likewise, upper and lower longitudinal portions of the uppermost and lowermost louvers are received in the grooves 27 of the upper and lower horizontal rails, respectively, of the main frame. Small brads or like elements 43 driven in the ridges 44 of the louvers at their opposite end portions and engaging in the recesses 45 of the louvers directly thereabove provide spaces between the louvers for the passage of air. However, it is to be understood that other spacing means may be employed, such as the positioning of additional= short louver sections between and at opposite end portions of the main louvers 42.

Each inverted V-shaped louver 42 has opposite parallel side faces 46 thereon (Figure 9) that engage the inner side faces of the grooves 27 in the vertical side rails for maintaining said louvers in upright positions in the frame.

When assembling the louvers 42 in the frame 20, one rail of said frame, preferably the upper horizontal rail,-

The auxiliary frame 30 composedfrom one of the outer sidesurfaces of the door because of engagement of the peripheral flange on said frame with the other outer side surface of the door, said continuous channel in the side'face of the main frame being of a depth considerably greater than the difference in thickness of the main frame'and the door, an auxiliary frame composed of strips mitered at each end and arranged at the grooved side face of said main frame, each of said strips overlapping an outer surface portion of the sidesurfa ce of the door adjacent thereto and having a tongue thereon extending into'the continuous channel in the side face of said main frame, said tongues and the channel receiving same having their opposite side faces parallel and closely fitted so as to form slidable tongueand-groove joints, said continuous channel also being of a depth at least equal to the distance of protrusion of said tongues on said strips so as not to bottom said tongues in said channel, and fastener elements attaching each strip to'a rail so as to cause said peripheral flangeon said main frame and said door overlapping portions of said' strips to tightly engage opposite outer side surfaces of the door, thereby firmly positioning said united frames on the door.

References Cited in the file ofthis patent 1 l UNITED STATES PATENTS 1 I OTHER REFERENCES:

Tee Cor by Morgan Co., Oshkosh, Wis, October 1955. j g

debate-"w". 

